From Barrenness to a Royal Line Text: Ruth 4:13-17
Introduction: The Quiet Providence of God
We have come to the culmination of what appears, on the surface, to be a quaint and charming story. It is a story of loyalty, of kindness, of a decent man in a decadent age. But if that is all we see, we have missed the forest for the trees. The book of Ruth is not a mere morality tale; it is a crucial hinge in the history of redemption. It is a story about how God, in His quiet and often hidden providence, works through the faithful obedience of ordinary people to achieve His grand, cosmic purposes. We live in an age that craves the spectacular, the explosive, the revolutionary. We want God to show up in the thunder and the earthquake. But more often than not, He is in the still, small voice. He is at work in the barley fields of Bethlehem, in the quiet integrity of a man like Boaz, and in the steadfast loyalty of a foreign woman like Ruth.
This story began in famine, death, and bitterness. Naomi left Bethlehem full and returned empty. She had lost her husband and her two sons. She was, by all worldly accounting, a woman with no future, no hope, and no heir. She even renamed herself Mara, which means bitter. But God is in the business of reversing such pronouncements. He is the God who brings life out of death, and fullness out of emptiness. The entire narrative has been a story of gathering. Ruth gathered grain in the fields. Boaz gathered Ruth under his wing. And now, at the climax of the story, we see the ultimate gathering: God gathers a family, secures a lineage, and lays a foundational stone for the throne of David, and ultimately, for the throne of David's greater Son.
The final verses of this chapter are not just a tidy conclusion to a romance. They are a prophetic announcement. They are the answer to the problem of emptiness with which the book began. And they show us that God's plan is always bigger than our tragedies, His grace is always wider than our grief, and His faithfulness extends to a thousand generations.
The Text
So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And Yahweh granted her conception, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is Yahweh who has not left you without a kinsman redeemer today, and may his name be proclaimed in Israel. May he also be to you a restorer of your soul and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” Then Naomi took the child and put him on her bosom and became his nurse. The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
(Ruth 4:13-17 LSB)
God Gives the Son (v. 13)
The action here is straightforward, but the theology is profound.
"So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And Yahweh granted her conception, and she gave birth to a son." (Ruth 4:13)
Boaz acts. He has fulfilled all the legal requirements at the city gate. He has publicly declared his intention to redeem the land and to raise up a name for the dead. He is a man of his word. He takes Ruth, and she becomes his wife. This is the culmination of his lawful, covenantal love. But notice the crucial clause that follows. After all the human activity, after all the planning, the legal maneuvering, and the faithful obedience, the text says, "And Yahweh granted her conception."
This is the central pivot upon which the entire story turns. Remember, Ruth was married to Mahlon for ten years in Moab, and she was barren. Orpah was also barren. The line of Elimelech was at a dead end. Boaz can do his part. He can act as the kinsman-redeemer. He can be a faithful husband. But Boaz cannot open the womb. Only God can do that. All our righteous efforts, all our obedience, all our zeal for the law, are utterly dependent on the sovereign grace of God to bring forth life. We plant, we water, but God gives the increase. This is true in agriculture, it is true in procreation, and it is most certainly true in salvation. We are not the source of life. God is. He is the one who knits us together in our mother's womb, and He is the one who raises us from spiritual death to new life.
This verse is a direct rebuke to our modern, technocratic arrogance. We think we are the masters of our fate, the captains of our souls. We believe that with enough planning and technology, we can solve any problem, including the problem of barrenness. But Scripture consistently reminds us that children are a heritage from the Lord. Life is a gift, not a product. And here, at the most critical moment, when the future of the messianic line hangs in the balance, the story pauses to remind us that this is God's work. Yahweh did this.
The Women's Chorus of Blessing (v. 14-15)
The birth of the son prompts an immediate reaction from the community, a chorus of praise directed not to Ruth, not to Boaz, but to God.
"Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is Yahweh who has not left you without a kinsman redeemer today, and may his name be proclaimed in Israel. May he also be to you a restorer of your soul and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”" (Ruth 4:14-15 LSB)
The women of Bethlehem now function as a Greek chorus, interpreting the events for us. And their first words are "Blessed is Yahweh." They recognize, as we must, that God is the primary actor in this drama. He is the one who has orchestrated these events. And notice what they say. God has not left Naomi without a kinsman-redeemer, a go'el. Who are they talking about? On one level, they are talking about Boaz, who has stepped up. But on another level, they are talking about the child, Obed. He is the one who will carry on the name, inherit the land, and secure Naomi's future. The child is the tangible evidence of God's redemptive work.
Their blessing is twofold. First, they pray that the child's name would be proclaimed in Israel. This is more than just a wish for popularity. It is a prayer for significance, for a legacy. And what a prayer it was. This child's name, Obed, would be forever linked to the name of his grandson, David, the greatest king of Israel. This was a prayer that God answered far beyond what these women could have possibly imagined.
Second, they describe what this child will be to Naomi. He will be a "restorer of your soul" and a "sustainer of your old age." This is the direct reversal of Naomi's bitterness. She came back empty, but now she is full. The child is the instrument of God's grace to restore her life, to bring joy back where there was only grief. He is the one who will provide for her, protecting her from the vulnerability of a widow in the ancient world. But this language points beyond the immediate situation. Who is the ultimate restorer of our souls? Who is the one who sustains us in our weakness? It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the great kinsman-redeemer who was born of this very line.
And in the middle of this, the women offer a stunning commendation of Ruth. She "is better to you than seven sons." In a culture where a woman's value was so closely tied to her ability to produce male heirs, this is an extraordinary statement. Seven was the number of perfection and completeness. To say that this one Moabite daughter-in-law was better than a perfect family of sons was to recognize that her hesed, her covenant loyalty, was of supreme value. This is a biblical definition of family. Family is not just about blood; it is about covenant faithfulness. Ruth, the foreigner, proved more faithful than many a natural-born son of Israel.
Naomi's Restoration and the Naming (v. 16-17)
The scene now shifts from the words of the women to the actions of Naomi, followed by the formal naming of the child.
"Then Naomi took the child and put him on her bosom and became his nurse. The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David." (Ruth 4:16-17 LSB)
Naomi, who returned with empty arms, now takes the child and places him on her bosom. This is a picture of profound, personal restoration. The emptiness is filled. The bitterness is replaced by tenderness. She becomes his nurse, his caregiver. This is a beautiful picture of the older generation finding renewed purpose in nurturing the next. Naomi is no longer Mara. She is participating in the future that God has provided.
The women's declaration is striking: "A son has been born to Naomi!" Legally, the child is the son of Boaz and Ruth. But covenantally, he is the heir of Elimelech and Mahlon, and therefore, he is Naomi's son. He is her redemption. He is the answer to her emptiness. This shows us how the covenant community understood family and inheritance. It was not a narrow, individualistic affair. It was a corporate reality. This child belonged to the whole family, and his birth was a blessing to them all.
They named him Obed, which means "servant" or "worshipper." It is a humble name. And yet, this servant would be the father of Jesse, who would be the father of David, the king. And from the line of David, the ultimate servant would come, the one who took on the form of a servant, and who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). The path to glory in God's kingdom is the path of service. Obed. This is the way of the Messiah.
The Gospel According to Ruth
The story does not end with Obed. The narrator immediately pushes our gaze forward. "He is the father of Jesse, the father of David." This is the whole point. This entire, beautiful story of loyalty and redemption in Bethlehem was about getting us to David. And why David? Because God had promised that from the line of David, a king would come whose kingdom would have no end.
This story is our story. We, like Naomi, were left empty by the famine of sin. We were in a foreign land, without hope and without God in the world. We were spiritually barren, unable to produce any life or righteousness of our own. We were bitter, alienated from the life of God. That is the state of every man apart from grace.
But God, in His mercy, provided a kinsman-redeemer for us. Not a man like Boaz, but the God-man, Jesus Christ. He was our kinsman, having taken on our flesh. And He was our redeemer, paying the price for our sin that we could never pay. He bought us back from slavery, not with silver or gold, but with His own precious blood. He did not just redeem our inheritance; He made us His bride. He took us, Gentile outcasts, and made us part of His family.
And through our union with Him, God has granted conception. He has caused us to be born again. He has given us new life. He has taken our barren, bitter hearts and made them fruitful. The women of Bethlehem declared that a son was born to Naomi. And the angels in heaven declare that a son has been born into the family of God every time a sinner repents. God takes the child, places him in the bosom of the church, and we are called to nurse and nurture these new believers.
The story of Ruth ends by pointing to David. But the story of David points to Jesus. Obed means servant. David was a servant king. But Jesus is the suffering servant, the conquering king. He is the restorer of our souls and the sustainer of our lives. He is better to us than seven sons. He has filled our emptiness with His fullness, and He has secured for us a name and a place in the family of God forever.